Wow, I can’t believe our school year is almost over. I must say, out of the 23, ummm, maybe 24 years of teaching, this has been one of the best. My students and I have grown tremendously! After reading a blog on Twitter, by @Kara_Welty, I was inspired to ask my students to list the ten most important things they learned in sixth grade. We started out with individual lists. Then, I compiled the top choices from the class on a Google Form. Students then chose five from the master list. With Google’s amazing graphing capabilities, the top ten choices became evident. Once we had the list, I created another doc for students to share their thoughts and elaborate on the top ten list. Let’s take a look at what my Sunsational Sixth Graders thought was important this year.

#1I learned how to use many online websites like Google Classroom, Kahoot, and CS-First.

“These websites are a huge part of this year’s learning techniques. Google Classroom, which is currently used right now, is most definitely the most needed. Without it, we’d have to hand write all essays we typed, and that’s a huge help. Kahoot was able to make learning fun for us in many ways, through games we created for ourselves and the ones with educational content. CS-First coding was yet another way to help make learning a fun experience for all of us, and a huge part of our future.” - Nancy

“By using these websites, we have learned many new ways on how to attack a problem to find its solution and have deepened our learning in a way that could not have been possible without these educational sites.” - Jorge

#2I learned that everyone is unique and has unique characteristics/skills.

“I learned that other people may be good at something that you're not good at but you might be good at something they’re not good at. Now you can help each other out.” - Demetrie

"During this school year, many students discovered that they had many different talents. Also, they all showed us their unique personalities which was very interesting to learn about others." - Diana

#3I learned that missing a day of school can hold you back from school work. Each day counts.

“From past experience, missing a day of school could mean you missed over 100 things that day. You could even miss a really fun day with your friends at recess or a very important test. This is an important fact to learn in one’s life.” - Andrew

"This is a good way to tell people that they shouldn’t miss school, because each day really does count and missing school can really hold you back from school work. It's hard to catch up when you miss out on a lot of stuff like homework, math, and language arts. I really liked coming to school this year." - Julissa

#4I learned that it’s important to always be true to yourself. Never change for anyone or anything.

“You should never change your personality to fit in or to make others happy. You should never think that you are not good enough for anything. You are beautiful, unique, and extraordinary in every way. Love yourself for all you are, and stop hating yourself.” - Deonne

"You should be yourself, love yourself, and also be you." - Isela

#5I learned how people can overcome adversity.

“I agree with this because our whole theme for this year has been “Overcoming Adversity.” We have researched articles, videos, and quotes/pictures to see if they could connect to overcoming adversity. Since we are going to middle school, I think this topic will help us because we will be in new environments and we will have more challenges to face. Remember, everyone will face adversity in their lives, either now or later.” - Dhiren

"We have been learning about overcoming adversity, this really helped me through the year because when I had a hard situations I would solve them. In our project about overcoming adversity, my group focused on being positive, determined, and having a growth mindset. This really helped me out this year." - Chiara

#6I learned that determination is key to success.

“I believe this is always true because now that we are going to a new school we must stay determined to all challenges we are going to face in all different classes and teachers.” - Natalia

“I do agree with this one because determination can get you through almost everything because with determination you have the courage to keep going and never give up, even if you’re faced with something that seems impossible to get through.” - Gilbert

#7I learned how to use the 4 Cs to solve puzzles with Breakout Edu.

"I think that this was an essential part of our school year because using the 4Cs is very important since the skills we learned will help us in the future. We use all the 4Cs when solving a Breakout Edu. If we are ever tasked with a project in the future, we can implement the knowledge we have with solving Breakout Edus. This can make us achieve very much and is very beneficial." - Chanu

"I think the four C’s were very helpful in Breakout Edu because communication and collaboration tied in because lots of people were working together and solved some locks together. Creativity and critical thinking tied in because the locks took a lot of twist and turns when solving." - Brennan#8I learned that once you get into a book it’s almost impossible to stop until you finish it.

“People just love books so much that they feel like they’ve been sucked into it and now they have to find a way out.” - Johann

“I can relate to this since after I pick up a book, I can never put it down. Sometimes when I get a book I have doubts about it, but once I’m on the second page my eyes are glued to the book.” - Susanna

#9I learned about the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.

“It’s important to realize and understand the differences, as they are crucial and decide what type of person you are, or who you are, because if you don’t know the difference, you could fall into the fixed mindset and not even realize it. It’s always better to live with the growth mindset.” - Dante

“I learned that when someone has a growth mindset they can overcome anything they want. A person that has a fixed mindset will not accomplish as much as other people.” - Derek

#10I learned how to code in sixth grade.

“This is true because coding is an important thing in our lives and without codes, music, online fashion shops, video games, online painting, and online educational sites would probably never exist.” - Grant

" Coding enhances our skills in technology. Many jobs need coding. By learning to code, I think I'll be able to find a job in technology that I like." - Orlando

#StudentsOh, Class, I’m so proud of all of you! You have all worked so hard this year. From day one, I knew you were special. When Edgar announced he wanted to be a train engineer, and meant it, I knew we were in for a fabulous ride. I’ve watched you growth both academically and socially. Your mathematical thinking has improved exponentially, your tech skills have definitely leveled up, and your ability to be mindful of your choices has impressed me. When we started the year I told you that my job was to prepare you for junior high. Well, guess what? You’re ready. (You know I’m crying now, but give me a minute.) You have all the skills you need to navigate through the next phase of your lives. As you know, adversities will come, but with positivity, determination, and the support of your family and friends, you’ll make it. It is with confidence that I send you off. XOXOX . . .

#ParentsThank you so much for sharing your precious children with me. They’re respectful, resilient, compassionate, funny, and hard working. This is a transition time for you as well. My husband and I have to constantly remind ourselves that our role as parents is to raise our children to go out into the world, to prepare them to be independent, to be proud of their accomplishments, to guide and instruct them when needed. They’re ready, Mom and Dad. Be proud of what you’ve raised. And I can’t wait to see them years from now and hug them and squeeze them as if they were still mine. Take care them!!! XOXOX . . .

This school year, 2015-2016, about 120 teachers from around the Imperial Valley participated in a phenomenal year long experience . . . Project PRIME: Precision and Rigor in Mathematics. Hours upon hours of training in math, technology, and college and career readiness were central to PRIME. So what were the highlights of Year 1? Let’s take a peek . . .

#OpportunitiesThere were so many amazing opportunities. Each time we met, participants rotated through “classes” much like in high school. We had technology training, mathematical content instruction, introduction to mathematical strategies for English Language Learners, assessment and feedback guidance, collaborative lesson planning sessions, and exposure to college and career readiness. We read several books throughout the year including Number Talks Matter by Cathy Humphreys and Ruth Parker, Formative Assessment in Practice by Margaret Heritage, and Mathematical Mindsets by Jo Boaler. Core to the project was Lesson Study. This is where the synthesis and magic happened.

#CohortWith 120 members, PRIME was divided into cohorts, preferably by grade level and school. My cohort consisted of 3 teachers from my school and 2 teachers from neighboring schools. Three of us taught sixth grade and two taught fifth grade. We were assigned a math coach that we all loved. Shout out to Coach John, @lazarcik. I sent out a Google Forms survey to see what they had to say about Lesson Study.

#LessonStudyCycleWe completed four lesson cycles throughout the year. Each cycle consisted of a group planning session, implementation of the target lesson, videotaping during the lesson, and a group reflection session. The planning and debriefing sessions were powerful. Here’s what one participant had to say, “I most liked our group gatherings as time to plan and to debrief about what worked and didn’t for our lessons. It has been beneficial to hear how the same lesson worked in our different settings and then the tweaks that we each made to become successful.” Many different strategies were used as we implemented lessons. Each one was well received by students and had successful learning effects.

#FrayerModelSince we live in an area where we have many second language learners, a number of strategies aim to equalize access to the curriculum. In order to strengthen mathematical content vocabulary, we used the Frayer Model. Using a four square grid, most of our models included a definition, characteristics, examples, and non-examples. This strategy was great at the beginning of a unit of instruction or lesson with new content vocabulary. For more http://www.theteachertoolkit.com.

#MathematicallySpeakingWe also began using a discourse strategy called Mathematically Speaking. Students are given two math problems to solve independently, then are asked to listen to a peer discuss his/her process of solving the problem. While the partner is speaking, the student listening is tracking content vocabulary that is used. Students are provided sentence frames which allow for language support. Roles are then reversed with the second problem. Here are some samples from my class.

#MathTalkWe also instituted discussions as a regular part of our instruction. Using Math Talk, students were able to clarify their thinking, deepen their understanding, and strengthen their communication skills with a partner, small groups, and whole group settings. Listen to what one of the cohort members had to say, “My students are more comfortable discussing math, especially how they got their answer. At the beginning of the year, students were more interested in “getting the answer” and moving on. As the year progressed, they understood that there is more than one way to answer and that it is important to understand how they arrived at the answer." Many of us used the attached poster as support.

#NumberTalksThe strategy which is my personal favorite is Number Talks. In a number talk, students come together as a group. The teacher poses a question, usually on a piece of chart paper or the whiteboard, and students are asked to solve the problem in their head. No manipulatives, paper, or pencils are used. Once students have been given time to come up with a solution, the teacher begins writing down student's strategies for solving. At first, many students describe a traditional algorithm. But the teacher then asks for another way to solve the problem, then another. Through the process, students develop computational fluency using a variety of number relationship groupings. The process is powerful! It’s difficult for the teacher at first to scribe the students descriptions, but the teacher develops fluency as well. I was video taped by our county office of education. I’ll post it here once it is released. For more, read here http://www.mathperspectives.com/num_talks.html.

#LeshModelThe hands-down favorite of the group was the Lesh Model. The purpose of a Lesh Model is to conceptualize math in multiple ways and to collaborate with peers to develop understanding. A four window grid is used. Common entries included a model, a diagram, written words to discuss how a problem is solved, language of the discipline, numerical and/or algebraic equations, solutions, unanswered questions, analysis of group work, and real-life contexts. At first, we assigned grid entries, but later allowed students to choose entries that they thought were the most relevant. Here’s what one teacher had to say after implementing the Lesh Model for a year, “My students finally switched from thinking of only computation and started using other strategies which included modeling to solve a problem. They really took to heart the collaboration and making sure everyone in their group understood how to solve the problem.” The Lesh Model was probably the most transformative strategy that we implemented both for the students and ourselves. The onus of learning was put on the students. Students came to understand that grappling with a difficult problem was part of true learning. As teachers, we became facilitators of learners and experienced tremendous pride when students discussed, revised, and questioned each other. The process was valued as much or more than the solution. Take a peek at my students working on a Lesh Model.

#PersonalGrowthOur first year of PRIME was full of growth. (Oh, we learned a lot about the Growth Mindset. Check out the November blog.) In education we're often asked, “How do you know when you're successful?’ For PRIME, the following testimonies answer that question. “My personal growth mostly revolved around purposeful planning. Instead of relying on the teacher’s manual to guide my lessons (sometimes without much thought), I started becoming more intentional about my lessons. Planning formative assessments, making lessons relevant and engaging, and allowing for more collaborative work became the norm.” “I became a better coach. Better at diagnosing PRIME strategies.” And, “I feel more comfortable teaching math, especially getting out the manipulatives. I feel more ready to teach math at a conceptual level.” And speaking for us all, “Year 1 was a reminder to me that I always can learn and implement new ideas. By being part of the cohort, it forced me to try new strategies which ultimately I loved doing with my students.”

#ThankYouI’d like to thank my amazing cohort for the fabulous year of learning and fun. Traci, Annette, Susie, Jordy, and John, you’re the best!!! Together, we built positive relationships, honed collaboration skills, mastered math standards, and fostered the growth mindset in ourselves and our students. It was a great year indeed. Can’t wait for PRIME Year 2!